The Long March Home (Bhutan)
Synopsis
On the 28th of May 2007, a massive demonstration involving thousands of refugees broke out on the Mechi Bridge at the Nepal-India border. Leading the demonstration were Bhutanese refugees heading for Bhutan in what they called "The Long March Home". Despite the refugees' earnest request for a pass through Indian border, which was the only access for them to go home, the border security force of India fired shots at them causing two deaths and hundreds wounds. With their homeland just a stone throw away, they couldn't pass the bridge and eventually had to come back to their refugee camps with tears. The refugees are the descendants of the Nepalese who migrated to Bhutan a century ago, which amounts up to one seventh of the whole population of Bhutan i.e. 10,0000 people. In 1990, Jigme Wangchuck, the King of Bhutan defined these people as illegal immigrants and evicted them. Then, why is India obstructing the refugees' way home? It is suspected that India is in the relationship of mutual interest with Bhutan. However, India has been refusing to give any official statement on this matter. "W" went to Khudubari refugee camp in eastern Nepal and met the refugees in desperate need of help from the international community.
Transcript
0000
Bhutan - the country at the center of the Himalayas, the fabled land of Shangri-La, earthly paradise, a permanently happy utopia. However, many Bhutanese people are distinctly unhappy.
0029
Protesters: India must allow our passage! Bhutan is our homeland! It is more precious than my life!
0040
17 years have passed. One out of seven Bhutanese lives in a foreign land. On the 28th May 2007, tens of thousands of people started demonstration along the Mechi bridge at the Nepal-India border asking for a route home through the Indian border. The demonstrators were Bhutanese refugees who must go through India to be able to go home. It is exactly the same way along which they walked 17 years ago when they were evicted from Bhutan. 15,000 refugees embarked on the long march home. But their journey was soon interrupted by the Indian security forces They blocked the refugees' path with strong violence.
0127
(SOV)
-He's been shot!
0139
-How many have been shot?
-Three, three
0143
Casalities cropped up as the Indian force started gun-fire
0148
(SOV)
-How many shoot at you?
-Two.
-Where have you been shot?
-On my hip
-Were they rubber bullets? Or were they real bullets?
-They were real bullets.
0159
India allowed these refugees to pass through its territory to reach Nepal when they were kicked out of Bhutan. But it would not allow them safe passage home again. In the course of the violent clashes, hundreds were wounded and one person at the end was shot dead by the Indian security force. This is the farthest refugee camp from the Mechi bridge where the family of the deceased lives.
0243
Interview
-Did you have your son's funeral?
-Yes, it was finished today.
0252
-Where did you have it?
-At home.
0300
Interview. Tek Bahadure Siwa / 52 yrs, father of the victim
‘He died young. It makes me so sad.'
0311
The mother is also in inconsolable in her grief at her son's death. The death at the hands of the Indian security forces was a shock not only to the family, but to the whole camp. The victim was the fourth son of Mr. Siwa. The 18 yeas old boy who went to Mechi bridge dreaming of going back to his homeland, came back as a dead body. His funeral was held according to Hindu custom. His body was cremated before the whole community. His father shaved his head according to the Hindu custom.
0349
Interview. Rok Maya Siwa / 45 yrs, mother of the victim
‘I think he died because he thought his death could make his parents get home. I think he thought it's worth dying if he could make that happen.'
0415
His parents were farmers back in the homeland, but they now make a living from sewing. The son's wish to make his parents go home cost him his life. Perhaps his biggest desire was to see his parents holding farming tools, and not sewing materials. It only takes 5 hours by car from Nepal to Bhutan. However, the Bhutanese refugees spread across seven camps in eastern Nepal have not been able to return home for 17 years. When we visited one camp, the refugees explain their grief.
0500
Interview. Run Mak Humaf
‘If I have to die, I want to die in Bhutan. We don't want to die here. We don't want to live in Nepal, nor do we want to live in India. We want to die where we were born and where our identity is.
0515
Currently they are stateless people, because the Bhutanese government does not recognize them as their citizens.
0525
(SOV)-‘This is a Bhutanese ID card. Our ID cards have been taken away. These documents are the ones I kept in secret.'
The ancestors of these refugees are the people who migrated to Bhutan 400 years ago. They became official Bhutanese citizens in 1985. However in 1990, the Bhutanese government suddenly changed the law and defined these people as illegal immigrants.
0557
(SOV)'This is my ID card. I am a Bhutanese citizen. I have a right to go to Bhutan. I must go back to Bhutan no matter what.'
0605
One of the causal factors was religion. Bhutan is a Buddhist country, but those of Nepalese origin believe in Hinduism. Religious discrimination was soon transformed into ethnic discrimination. Eventually in 1990, the Bhutanese government categorized them as foreigners arguing that no firm evidence of their residency in Bhutan prior to 1985 could be found.
0637
Interview with Tek Nat Rizal / Leader of the Bhutanese refugees
‘The current king of Bhutan is from Tibet. It was only 150 years ago that the Tibetans migrated to Bhutan whereas the Nepalese came to live in Bhutan 400 years ago.'
0647
But 400 years' history has not been recognized. Once defined as illegal immigrants, the Bhutanese of Nepalese origin were expatriated to India across the border, who then deported them to Nepal.
0702
Interview with Tek Nat Rizal / Leader of the Bhutanese refugees
‘We had no intention of coming to Nepal. We didn't have any reason to do so. The Bhutanese government killed the people and burned the houses down all day and night. We couldn't even protest. We had no time to bring our cattle with us like cows and chickens. We had to run away, even when one child hadn't come home from school.'
0729
All in all, more than 100,000 Bhutanese people of Nepalese origin left their homeland to avoid persecution. And they became refugees. Today, Bhutan still does not see these people as its citizens. What's worse is that they try to evict the remaining Bhutanese of Nepalese origin. Bhutan, the land of Shangri-La. But its door has been closed to these refugees for 17 years.
0756
They have lived here in this makeshift camp built in a jungle, isolated from the outside world. They lost their freedom and are living a life of poverty and misery. They can't farm because they have no land, and can't get jobs outside the camp.
0804
A whole day's work sewing work puts just one cabbage on the table.
0828
There is also an acute shortage of water. The tap water would only run for a short while and then stop. They depend on charity hand-outs which don't provide a lasting solution, but just take the edge off their appetite. But, it is not the strained and destitute circumstances that make their life miserable - It's their nostalgia for home and the families they left behind.
0917
Vismural who was once the head of a village in Bhutan has now become an old man.
0933
Interview. Vismural Ajarya / Bhutanese refugee
‘I wore this costume from 1981 to 1990. This is a traditional costume of Bhutan which I used to wear when I was the head. Now it's torn here. (Reporter: Why do you still keep it?) I keep it so I can wear in on my way back home to Bhutan.'
1005
The homeland that he has been longing to return to in his traditional costume is less than 200 km from the bridge. But while the tourists can cross the bridge unhindered, the refugees can never cross it without risking life and limb. According to the refugees, India is blocking their way because it fears the loss of economic and political influence over Bhutan if it accepts the refugees' requests.
1027
Interview. Sahana Pradhan / Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nepal
‘India is blocking the refugee's path. They didn't block them coming to Nepal, but why are they blocking the way back home? It doesn't make sense. We have been urging India not to block them.'
1038
India has done more than just block them. The refugee camp is full of people wounded by the gunfire of the Indian security force. They suffer acute pain without painkillers.
1055
Interview. Sa Bahadur/ 42 yrs, Wounded during demonstration
‘My father told me he didn't think I would be able to come back alive. We felt lucky that I was at least alive when there was someone shot dead. We cried together. My father cried and I cried as well.'
1115
He was lucky to be back alive, but for the rest of his life, he will be maimed. Life at the camp will be much harder from now on. The refugees can't do anything but wait until the time comes when they can go back home. It's June now. Soon they will face the Monsoon, where they have to repair shore up their houses against heavy windstorms. As the years have passed, they have got used to the Monsoon - but they say they will never get used to life as refugees. The pain of Bhutanese refugees is enduring.
1217
Interview. Tek Nat Rizal / Leader of the Bhutanese refugees
‘Our rights are being infringed by Bhutan and India right now. We are living a life that is worse than that of animals. Please help us escape this hell. We won't forget your mercy on us for the rest of our life.'